{"id":34300,"date":"2018-07-20T04:14:36","date_gmt":"2018-07-20T08:14:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/?p=34300"},"modified":"2019-05-24T10:23:45","modified_gmt":"2019-05-24T14:23:45","slug":"is-the-universe-a-computer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/2018\/07\/20\/is-the-universe-a-computer\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Universe a Computer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"binary-1044145_1920\"Is the universe a \u201cgiant quantum computer\u201d or a \u201ccellular automaton\u201d? Are we really living in a Matrix <\/em>world<\/a>\u2014made up of tiny bits of information that the universe is continually processing on a grand scale? The conception of the universe as a digital computing entity \u2014lately advocated by Seth Lloyd of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who calls the universe a \u201cgiant quantum computer\u201d\u2014has interested quantum physicists in recent decades.<\/p>\n

In a chapter published in the book Quantum Foundations, Probability and Information<\/em><\/a> (Springer, 2018), CGS Associate Professor of Natural Science and Mathematics Gregg Jaeger<\/a> puts this conception of the universe to a critical analysis. The chapter, \u201cClockwork Rebooted: Is the Universe a Computer?\u201d examines new quantum concepts and compares them to past ideas of the universe.<\/p>\n

Jaeger notes, \u201cThe idea of grounding physics in principles of computation and an information ontology by considering the universe as fundamentally a digital computing entity has been of increasing interest over the past several decades. It has been claimed in some versions of this approach that this entity is a cellular automaton.\u201d Lloyd\u2019s conception is \u201cthe most literal version of the idea,\u201d Jaeger says, and is advocated \u201con the grounds that it provides a novel explanation for the complexity currently seen in the universe.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Jaeger\u2019s critical analysis, he compares this picture of the physical world with past ideas of the universe as \u201cmechanical clockwork.\u201d Although there is value in moving physics from past mathematical approaches to discrete descriptions of physical processes, Jaeger concludes, \u201cThe claim that the universe is an enormous computer, like the thesis that it is an enormous clockwork, is unwarranted.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edited by Andrei Khrennikov\u00a0and Bourama Toni, Quantum Foundations, Probability and Information<\/em> summarizes the latest research in quantum foundations<\/a> and mathematical physics. It aims to promote interdisciplinary collaboration in the areas of quantum probability, information, communication and foundation, and mathematical physics.\u00a0Jaeger is one of several \u201cleading experts in quantum foundations\u201d who contributed chapters to the volume.<\/p>\n

The last book Jaeger co-authored, Quantum Metrology, Imaging, and Communication<\/em><\/a> (Springer, 2017), carried on Jaeger\u2019s interdisciplinary work in the field of quantum mechanics and quantum information. It responded to the field\u2019s growing interest in quantum entanglement and quantum-few particle systems.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is the universe a \u201cgiant quantum computer\u201d or a \u201ccellular automaton\u201d? Are we really living in a Matrix world\u2014made up of tiny bits of information that the universe is continually processing on a grand scale? Associate Professor Gregg Jaeger puts this conception of the universe to a critical analysis. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9762,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[4204,4208,334,4209],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34300"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9762"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34300"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37152,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34300\/revisions\/37152"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/cgs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}